Automatically modifying a custom search engine for a web site based on administrator input to search results of a specific search query

ABSTRACT

Automatically creating and modifying a search engine for a website. User input may be received specifying an address of a website. A search engine may be automatically created for the website based on the user input. Webpages of the website may specify a plurality of tags specifying custom attributes of the webpages. During creation of the search engine, these custom attributes may be incorporated into the search engine index. Additional user input may be received customizing the search engine for various search engine contexts, e.g., based on the custom attributes of the webpages. Search engine results for the website may be based on various ranking functions, potentially including social impact of webpages of the website.

PRIORITY INFORMATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/667,493 titled “Modifying a Custom Search Engine for a Web Site Basedon Custom Tags” filed Nov. 2, 2012, whose inventors are Matthew T. Rileyand Quinlan J. Hoxie, which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety as if fully and completely set forth herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of search engines, and moreparticularly to a system and method for automatically creating a customsearch engine for a website.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

In recent years, web traffic and web sites have proliferated. It iscommon for most companies and many users to create and maintain personalor professional web sties, including blogs, company web sites (bothexposed to the Internet or hosted for internal use), etc. At the sametime, search engines are extremely important for allowing users tolocate relevant content of websites.

Many website managers desire the ability to allow customers or visitorsto the website to search for content within that website. Currently,visitors may use a general search engine while using a “site” modifierto search a single website (e.g., using search engines such as Google®).However, website managers may wish to provide a search engine withintheir site rather than forcing users to use an external search engine.

Accordingly, using present solutions, managers may install their ownsearch engine using various online tools, such as by hosting a searchengine using PHP or other server-side code. These solutions typicallyrequire a more savvy manager as well as upgraded hosting that supportsexecution of server-side code.

Accordingly, improvements in website search engines are desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Various embodiments of a system and method for automatically creatingand customizing a search engine for a website are presented below.

Initially, a user may provide user input requesting creation of a searchengine for a website, e.g., controlled by the user. The user input mayspecify an address (e.g., a URI or URL of the website). In response tothe user input, a search engine may be automatically created for thewebsite, e.g., including crawling and/or indexing the website specifiedby the user. In some embodiments, the creation of the search engine mayinvolve determining the social impact or influence of various pages onthe website, e.g., by analyzing how many “likes” or links to webpages ofthe website occur on the Internet, such as on social media sites. Othercharacteristics of webpages within the website may also be determinedand used in creating the search engine.

Once the search engine is created, code for including the search engineon the website may be automatically generated and may be provided to theuser. For example, the code may be JavaScript™ code or any otherbrowser-supported language that the user may include in the website.

After creation of the search engine, the user (or another userassociated with the website) may be able to customize the search enginefor the website. In one embodiment, the user may provide inputspecifying a search query. In response to the search query, the searchengine may generate a plurality of search results and provide theplurality of search results, e.g., in a webpage or pop-up window, to theuser.

The user may provide input to the search results, e.g., directly to thewebpage displaying the search results, to specify modifications to thesearch results, and correspondingly to the search engine. For example,the user may specify a change in position of one or more of the searchresults, e.g., by dragging a search result from an initial position to adesired position on the screen. Alternatively, or additionally, the usermay delete a search result from the plurality of search results and/orprovide an additional web page that should be provided in the searchresults to the search query.

Based on the user input to customize the search results, the searchengine may be automatically modified to incorporate the changesindicated by the user input. In one embodiment, the changes may bespecific to the query provided by the user. However, the changes mayalso affect similar search queries (e.g., modifications for “flowers”may also apply to “flower”). Terms similar, but less related, may alsobe influenced, e.g., to a lesser degree.

Other mechanisms may be used for customizing the search engine. Forexample, the user may be able to specify different weights for variouscharacteristics of the webpages that may be used by the search engine indetermining the order of search results to a search query. For example,social importance, engagement, popularity, history, ad revenue, etc. maybe used to influence the order of the search results. The user mayspecify the importance of each of the available categories and searchresults may be provided according to that specification. For example, auser may desire that pages with the most ad revenue have more importancethan social importance or vice versa.

As another example, the user may be able to specify custom attributes inthe webpages (e.g., the HTML of the webpages), e.g., by using tags. Byusing a format recognized by the search engine, these tags may beincorporated into the search engine (e.g., during indexing or crawling)and the user may use those tags to influence the search results for thewebsite (e.g., by specifying rules that use the custom attributesspecified in the web page.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment is consideredin conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network system comprising two or more computersystems configured according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a methodfor automatically creating a custom search engine for a website;

FIGS. 3A-3Q illustrate an exemplary walkthrough corresponding to oneembodiment of the method of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a methodfor automatically modifying a search engine in response to user input;

FIGS. 5A-5D are diagrams illustrating exemplary search results withcustomizations;

FIGS. 6A-7E are diagrams illustrating the evolution of exemplary searchresults with the customizations of FIGS. 5A-5D as changes occur in thewebsite;

FIGS. 8A-8I illustrate an exemplary walkthrough corresponding to oneembodiment of the method of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a methodfor customizing a search engine using tags;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a methodfor customizing a search engine using rules;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are exemplary user interfaces corresponding to anembodiment of the method of FIG. 10; and

FIG. 13 illustrates exemplary code for excluding indexing of a portionof a webpage.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should beunderstood, however, that the drawings and detailed description theretoare not intended to limit the invention to the particular formdisclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover allmodifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spiritand scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Terms

The following is a glossary of terms used in the present application:

Memory Medium—Any of various types of memory devices or storage devices.The term “memory medium” is intended to include an installation medium,e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks 104, or tape device; a computer systemmemory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM,Rambus RAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as a Flash, magnetic media,e.g., a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, or other similartypes of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may comprise othertypes of memory as well or combinations thereof. In addition, the memorymedium may be located in a first computer in which the programs areexecuted, or may be located in a second different computer whichconnects to the first computer over a network, such as the Internet. Inthe latter instance, the second computer may provide programinstructions to the first computer for execution. The term “memorymedium” may include two or more memory mediums which may reside indifferent locations, e.g., in different computers that are connectedover a network.

Carrier Medium—a memory medium as described above, as well as a physicaltransmission medium, such as a bus, network, and/or other physicaltransmission medium that conveys signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Computer System—any of various types of computing or processing systems,including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system,workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, personal digitalassistant (PDA), television system, grid computing system, or otherdevice or combinations of devices. In general, the term “computersystem” can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combinationof devices) having at least one processor that executes instructionsfrom a memory medium.

Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computersystem (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g.,circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.), without userinput directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thusthe term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation being manuallyperformed or specified by the user, where the user provides input todirectly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiatedby input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that areperformed “automatically” are not specified by the user, i.e., are notperformed “manually”, where the user specifies each action to perform.For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting eachfield and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typinginformation, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is fillingout the form manually, even though the computer system must update theform in response to the user actions. The form may be automaticallyfilled out by the computer system where the computer system (e.g.,software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of theform and fills in the form without any user input specifying the answersto the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automaticfilling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of theform (e.g., the user is not manually specifying answers to fields butrather they are being automatically completed). The presentspecification provides various examples of operations beingautomatically performed in response to actions the user has taken.

FIG. 1—Exemplary Network

FIG. 1 illustrates a system including a first computer system 10 that iscoupled to a web site server 60 and a custom search server 70. In oneparticular embodiment, a user may use the computer system 10 to interactwith the custom search server 70 in order to add a search engine to aweb site hosted by web site server 60, as described herein.

As shown in FIG. 1, the computer system 10 may include a display deviceoperable to display a graphical user interface, e.g., of a web sitemaintained by the user on web site server 60 (referred to herein as the“hosted website”) or of a web site provided by custom search server 70for installing a custom search engine on the hosted web site (referredto herein as the “custom search website”).

The computer system 10 and the servers 60 and 70 may include at leastone memory medium on which one or more computer programs or softwarecomponents according to one embodiment of the present invention may bestored. For example, the memory medium of the custom search server maystore program instructions for automatically creating a search enginefor the hosted website. Similarly, the computer system 10 may storeprogram instructions for interacting with the various servers, e.g.,using a web browser. Finally, the web site server 60 may store programinstructions for providing the hosted website and/or associated servicesto users visiting the web site. The memory mediums discussed above mayalso store operating system software, as well as other software foroperation of the computer system. Various embodiments further includereceiving or storing instructions and/or data implemented in accordancewith the foregoing description upon a carrier medium.

The network 50 can also be any of various types, including a LAN (localarea network), WAN (wide area network), the Internet, or an Intranet,among others. In primary embodiments, the network 50 may be theInternet.

FIG. 2—Automatically Creating a Search Engine for a Website

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for automatically creating a search enginefor a website. The method shown in FIG. 2 may be used in conjunctionwith any of the computer systems or devices shown in the above Figures,among other devices. In various embodiments, some of the method elementsshown may be performed concurrently, in a different order than shown, ormay be omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed asdesired. As shown, this method may operate as follows.

Initially, in 202, user input may be received to request creation of asearch engine for a website. For example, a user may use the computersystem 10 to access a custom search website of the custom search server70. The custom search server 70 may provide a webpage that allows theuser to request automatic creation of the search engine. For example,the webpage may include a field where the user provides an address of ahosted website hosted by web site server 60 and/or other information forthe search engine, such as a name for the search engine. Accordingly,the user may specify an address of the hosted website, e.g., byproviding a URI or URL of the hosted website.

In 204, response to the user input, a search engine may be automaticallycreated for the website, e.g., including crawling and/or indexing thewebsite specified by the user. For example, the hosted website may becrawled and a search index may be generated based on the crawling of thehosted website.

In one embodiment, as the crawler visits pages on the hosted website, itmay attempt to extract some structured information from each page. Forexample, the information may include the title of the page, the textualcontent of the page, any sections present in the page, and a number ofother factors that may be relevant to search indicies. Absent anyinformation provided on the page, the crawler may use heuristics and/orbest practices to determine these attributes (e.g., the page title istypically provided within <title></title> html tags, etc.).

A user of the hosted website may influence the crawl in a variety ofmanners. For example, on one embodiment, the sitemap protocol may beused, which is a standard for listing contents of a website (e.g., in anXML document) that allows web crawlers to easily discover the pages on asite that the site owner wishes to be indexed for search engines. Thus,where the sitemap protocol is used, the crawler will index only thecontent specified in the sitemap document.

Additionally, or alternatively the website may specify information thatthe crawler may recognize while crawling each webpage of the website.For example, the user may explicitly label the structured informationsought after by the crawler discussed above. Additionally, the webpagesmay include further information that may be used for customizing thesearch engine by the user. For example, the user may insert websitespecific tags that the crawler may extract and store in the searchindex. The user may then use those custom tags for modifying behavior ofthe search engine. Further details related to the specification of thisinformation is provided below.

In one embodiment, the user may specify path exclusions and/orinclusions for the search engine. This user specification may occurbefore creation of the search engine, or at a later time, as desired.For example, a user may specify that a specific portion of the websitebe excluded from the crawl and/or in search results. Similarly, the usermay wish to restrict the search engine pages that only exist within acertain path, which is known as “whitelisting” (or path inclusion).

As one example, a user may wish to exclude every page within the pathwww.yourdomain.com/coupons (referred to as the “/coupons” path) to beexcluded from the search index. Accordingly, a user can exclude pathsvia a user interface, such as those described below (e.g., FIG. 3K). Forexample, the user may choose the exclusion rule he would like to apply:begins with, contains, ends with, or matches regex. The rule may then beapplied to the string provided within the field. For example, if theuser desires to exclude any URLs that begin with “coupons”, the user canchoose “begins with” and type “coupons” into the text box. In oneembodiment, as the string is typed, the dashboard may display URLs fromthe associated website that match the exclusion rule being specified sothat the user can confirm the correct URLs are being excluded.

As another example, a user may wish to include all pages under thewww.yourdomain.com/documentation for a documentation search engine. Forthis particular search engine, all other pages should be excludedautomatically because they are not included in the whitelist.Whitelisted paths can be created within the Swiftype dashboard in amanner similar to that described above. Exemplary user interfaces forpath inclusion and exclusion are provided below.

In some embodiments, the creation of the search engine may involvedetermining the social impact or influence of various pages on thewebsite, e.g., by analyzing how many “likes” or links to webpages of thewebsite occur on the Internet, such as on social media sites. In oneparticular embodiment, after crawling the website, an address for eachcrawled webpage may be determined. One or more social media outlets maybe accessed to determine whether or not that address has been shared orpromoted at the social media website. For example, the Facebook OpenGraph™ provided by Facebook may be used to determine the number of“Likes” that have been registered for that address. These referencesfrom social media to webpages, such as Facebook® “likes” may be referredto as “social endorsements” or “social signaling” of the webpage(s).

The generated meta data for each webpage may be stored, and then thewebsite's search index may be post-processed to add those metrics aspart of each document's schema. Finally, the result ranking function maybe influenced by the social values in the schema. In this way, a webpagewithin a website that has been shared widely on social networks may beranked higher on any text queries for which it is relevant due entirelyto it's social media popularity, rather than any change in its textualrelevance. The influence of this “social impact” on search results maybe specified or modified by the user of the custom search website (e.g.,a manger associated with the hosted website), as discussed below.

In 206, once the search engine is created, or possibly before or whilethe search engine is being created, code for including the search engineon the hosted website may be automatically generated and provided to theuser. In one embodiment, the code may be JavaScript™ code, Flash®provided by Adobe, or any other browser-supported language that the usermay include in the website. For example, the custom search website mayprovide a snippet of code that the user may insert into the hostedwebsite to include a search engine field corresponding to theautomatically generated search engine of 204.

In 208, the user may install the search engine according to thefollowing procedure. The user may copy the code of 206 (e.g., the shortJavascript snippet) into the source code of the hosted website.Accordingly, when the website is loaded, the code may (1) create asearch input box on the page or (2) locate an existing search input boxon the page, and attaches its functionality to the located search box.

After installation, when a user of the hosted website types into thesearch box, the search query may be relayed to the custom search server.While the user is typing, the custom search server may provide searchresults in an “autocomplete” dropdown box below the search box. In oneembodiment, the user may pick one of these search results directlywithout submitting (pressing enter) the full-text search. However, ifthe user does submit the full-text search result, the query may beexecuted by the custom search server and the appropriate set of searchresults may be returned and rendered on the webpage of the hostedwebsite. If the search engine has been customized, e.g., for theparticular search query provided by the user, as discussed below, thenthe search results for the keyword entered may be customizedaccordingly.

FIGS. 3A-3Q—Exemplary Walkthrough for Automatic Creation of a SearchEngine

FIGS. 3A-3Q illustrate exemplary user interfaces corresponding to themethod of FIG. 2. These interfaces are provided as examples only and donot limit the scope of the descriptions herein.

As shown in FIG. 3A, a webpage for managing search engines is provided.In this particular webpage, the user does not currently have any searchengines and the user may choose to create a search engine by selectingthe “create search engine” button highlighted in the upper right corner.

Correspondingly, in FIG. 3B, the user may choose between four differentmethods for creating the search engine. In the first method, which isselected for the remainder of this walkthrough, the user may enter theURL of a website and a search engine is created automatically. In theremaining options, a search engine may be created for a WordPress™ siteusing a plugin. For example, the user may activate a correspondingsearch engine plugin using the WordPress™ dashboard. Correspondingly,the plugin may provide data (e.g., via an API) of the WordPress™ site tothe custom search server for automatic search engine creation. Asanother option, a search engine may be created for Tumblr™ sites. Inthis option, the custom search server may request data for creation ofthe search engine using the Tumblr™ API. Finally, the user may use anAPI to have full control of the search engine, for more advanced users.In one embodiment, the search engine may be initially created withlittle or no data and the API may be used to populate the searchengine's data for the website, which may then be used for performingsearches. For example, the user may use the API to have full control ofthe search engine's content schemas, relevance calculations, updates,etc.

In FIG. 3C, after choosing the first option, the user may provide asearch engine name (in this case “PaulGrahamDotCom”) and provide the URLof the website for which the user desires to create a search engine(“http://paulgraham.com”). If the user desires that the search engine belimited to a particular path, the path may specified in the URL at thispoint. Additionally, multiple URLs may be added for the search engine,as desired. As discussed above, it may also be possible to excludecertain pages or paths at this point, although such exclusions may bespecified at a later point. After specifying the desired URLs, the usermay select the “create engine” button to begin automatic creation of thesearch engine.

FIG. 3D illustrates an exemplary user interface while the search engineis being created. In this particular example, webpages may appear on thewebpage (under the “pages” tab) as they are found and indexed. Aftercompletion of the search engine, all of the indexed pages may be listedunder this tab. As noted at the top of this page, the user may excludepages using the “domains” tab. Additionally, the user may be able toview and use a live preview of the search engine on the selected webpageby selecting the “show preview” button.

In FIG. 3E, the user has selected the “show preview” button. In responseto this selection, the server may automatically retrieve and modify theselected website to insert a search engine input field in the websitefor the user. In this particular example, the webpage has various linkson the left of the page and the search engine input field, which did notpreviously exist on the website, is inserted at the top right. Asindicated to the left of the input field, the user may try the searchengine using the live preview, even though the search engine is stillbeing created.

In FIG. 3F, the user has entered the search query “startups”. As shown,an autocomplete list of search results is shown beneath the input field,which may be automatically populated with results as the user types inthe search query, e.g., automatically updating each time a new characteror modification to the search query is type or provided by the user. Inthis case, various webpages that have been crawled and are deemedrelevant to the search query by the search engine are provided in theautocomplete search results.

FIG. 3G illustrates the search results of the search query “startups”when the user has pressed “enter” or formally submitted the search queryto the search results. In this example, the search results are providedin a pop-up interface over the webpage. In this case, the search resultsare not provided in a new browser window, although such an option ispossible.

In FIG. 3H, the user has selected the top result from the search resultsand the resulting page is visited in response. Thus, the user isprovided a working preview of the search engine while it is beingautomatically created.

In FIG. 3I, the user has returned to the search engine management page,e.g., during or after completion of the creation of the search engine.In this example, the user has selected the “domains” tab. Here, the usermay provide inclusions or exclusions for the search engine. In thisparticular example, the user is excluding URLs which “begin with” and istyping /yc. As the user is typing the input for the exclusion, the“sample exclusions” section is automatically populated with paths thatthe exclusion would apply to (e.g., “/ycable.html” or“/ycombinator.html”). In one embodiment, the user may select either ofthese exclusions to specify a single exclusion or finish the querymanually (e.g., leaving it at “/yc” to exclude both), as desired.Additionally, the user may click the “add” to add the exclusion rule tothe search engine. These exclusion rules may be listed underneath the“exclusion rule” heading. Additionally, the user may select the“recrawl” button to have the website re-crawled, e.g., to update thesearch engine using the exclusions.

In FIG. 3J, the user has added the “/yc” exclusion and a pop up menu isshowing the various exclusion options, e.g., “begin with”, “contain”,“end with”, “match regex”, etc.

FIG. 3K illustrates another user interface showing both whitelist(inclusion) rules and blacklist (exclusion) rules. Additionally, theuser may specify whether a new rule is for inclusion or exclusion, asdesired.

FIG. 3L illustrates the user interface for the “result controls” tab,where the user may customize the search engine. Further discussion ofthe customization of the search engine is provided below.

FIG. 3M illustrates the user interface for the “analytics” tab, wherethe user may view various analytics related to a search engine. Thisparticular page is shown for a different search engine than the onecreated above (having a larger history and having been used for at least14 days). As shown, the user may view the number of searches over time,the top searches, the top searches with no results, etc. Various otheranalytics may be provided in this user interface.

FIG. 3N illustrates the user interface for the “install” tab, which maybe displayed during or after search engine creation, as desired. In thisuser interface, the code for various install options are shown. For thefirst option, as indicated by the webpage, “using this installationtype, search results will be displayed in a lightbox or modal overlay onthe same page where the original search is performed”. The user may copyand the corresponding code into their website/webpages in order toinstall the search engine. Other install options are also possible, suchas the second option, also shown on the webpage, where “using thisinstallation type, search results will be written into a page element onthe same page where the original search is performed”. As anotherexample, the user may choose to display search results on a new webpage. Further install options are envisioned, such as downloading theresults, e.g., in a csv, xml, json, etc. format.

FIG. 3O illustrates an exemplary search engine management page for auser having a plurality of created search engines (e.g., for a pluralityof websites).

In FIG. 3P, the user has selected the search engine Paul Graham.Accordingly, the user interface for that website (similar to the onesprovided above) is displayed. Here, the “pages” tab is selected and thepages indexed by the search engine are displayed. As also shown, theuser can edit information for each page. In this case, the user selects“Trevor with Powerbooks”.

Finally, FIG. 3Q illustrates an exemplary user interface for editingindividual page details, such as the title of a page, within the “pages”tab of the search engine manager. In this case, the user is editing thepage selected in FIG. 3P. In various embodiments, other details of pagesmay also be edited. Additionally, the top referring queries may also beshown for a selected webpage.

FIG. 4—Customizing Search Results of a Search Engine in Response to UserInput

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for customizing search results of a searchengine for a website based on user input. The method shown in FIG. 4 maybe used in conjunction with any of the computer systems or devices shownin the above Figures, among other devices. In various embodiments, someof the method elements shown may be performed concurrently, in adifferent order than shown, or may be omitted. Additional methodelements may also be performed as desired. As shown, this method mayoperate as follows.

In 402, a user may provide input specifying a search query. In oneembodiment, the user may provide the input using the computer system 10which may display a website provided by the custom search server 70(e.g., for managing a search engine created for a hosted website of thewebsite server 60). For example, the user input may be provided to theuser interface (e.g., via a webpage) shown in FIG. 3L. In otherembodiments, the user input may be provided to an input field for thesearch engine on the hosted website, as desired. The search engine mayhave been created according to the method of FIG. 2, described above.

In 404, in response to the search query, the search engine (e.g.,executed by the custom search server 70) may generate a plurality ofsearch results and provide the plurality of search results, e.g., in awebpage or pop-up window, to the user.

In 406, the user may provide input to the search results (e.g., directlyto the webpage displaying the search results) to specify desiredmodifications to the search results. For example, the user may specify achange in position of one or more of the search results. In oneparticular embodiment, a first search result in the list of searchresults on the screen can be clicked and then dragged to a differentposition using a “drag-and-drop” user-interaction model. When a resultis moved from its original position to a new position in the list, itsappearance may change to indicate that it has been “pinned” to theposition in which it was just placed. In one embodiment, the user can“unpin” the result to automatically return it to its original positionin the list.

FIGS. 5A-5D are exemplary diagrams illustrating an exemplaryre-ordering. More specifically, FIG. 5A illustrates an original organicresult set, FIG. 5B illustrates the reordered result set after receivinguser input, FIG. 5C illustrates the set of pinned results (e.g., whichmay be stored by the search engine for later search results for thesearch query), and FIG. 5D illustrates the remaining set of organicresults in which the pinned results have been removed from the defaultordering, which may also be stored or otherwise noted by the searchengine.

Alternatively, or additionally, the user may delete a search result fromthe plurality of search results. For example, if a result is included inthe original list that the user does not wish to have included at all,the user can click an “X” button of that search result. Accordingly, thesearch results may be removed from the result set for that search queryentirely. In one particular embodiment, at this point, the result isplaced in a list of “Removed Results” for that specific keyword forfuture reference (e.g. if the user would like to add it back to theresult set at a later time).

The user input may allow the user to provide an additional web page thatshould be provided in the search results to the search query. In oneembodiment, the user may simply provide a URL of a webpage that isdesired to be included as a search result. Alternatively, oradditionally, the user input may include receiving an additional searchquery to locate the desired search result. Accordingly, the searchengine may provide a second set of search results based on the searchquery and the user may select the desired additional result from thesecond set of search results.

For example, if a search result is not included in the returned list ofresults, the user can add it by clicking an “Add new result” link, e.g.,provided in the search results page. This link may provide another userinterface that allows the user to find the result they would like toadd. Continuing this example, when the user finds the result page andclicks the “Add” button, it may be automatically added to the top of theoriginal search result list. The user may then re-order the resultwithin the rest of the search results (e.g., to place it in the thirdposition), using the techniques described above.

In 408, based on the user input to customize the search results, thesearch engine may be automatically modified to incorporate the changesindicated by the user input. For example, the positions of any modifiedresults, any deleted results, and/or any added results may be stored forthat search query, as indicated above.

While result set customizations may typically be specific to the searchquery for which they are applied, the customizations may also be used toinfluence the ordering of search results on other, related keywords. Thedegree to which keywords are related can be determined by anycombination of the following factors:

1) The similarity of their algorithmically-determined search result sets(e.g. two search queries that produce algorithmically-generated searchresult sets that include the same results in the same order would bedeemed very similar);

2) The total number of word tokens shared by the query strings (e.g.“austin convention center” and “austin convention” are more similar than“austin convention center” and “convention rental equipment”); or

3) The similarity of the semantic meanings of the keywords, e.g., termsthat are synonymous (e.g., known to be synonymous or which are specifiedas synonymous, e.g., by the user, for uncommon terms).

In one embodiment, once two keywords are determined to be similar,customizations made to one may influence the ordering of results on theother, the degree of the influence may be determined by the degree ofsimilarity between the two keywords.

In one embodiment, each type of customization may have the followingeffect on search results for related keywords:

1) Adding a result: increases the relevance of this result to relatedkeyword searches;

2) Removing a result: decreases the relevance of this result to relatedkeyword searches;

3) Moving a result higher in the result set: increases the relevance ofthis result to related keyword searches; or

4) Moving a result lower in the result set: decreases the relevance ofthis result to related keyword searches.

Thus, similar search queries may be influenced by the modificationsdiscussed above, e.g., to a lesser degree. For example, where the userhas changed the position of a result for the search term “rose”, e.g.,to a higher position, that same search result may be provided a higherweight for a related search term, such as “flower”. Thus, in oneembodiment, the exact position may not be remembered for the relatedsearch term, but the overall rank may be modified, in this case, with ahigher ranking Note that the customizations may affect search queriesthat are substantially the same (e.g., modifications for “flowers” mayalso apply to “flower”) with the exact same modifications, e.g., wherethe original results for the two queries were the same or substantiallythe same (e.g., >90% similarity).

Thus, according to the method of FIG. 4, a search engine that isspecific or dedicated to a hosted website may be customized by a user(e.g., a manager or controller of the hosted website) based on userinput from that user. In one specific embodiment, the changes may bespecific to a search query and may be provided by the user to a userinterface showing search results from the search engine based on thatsearch query.

Result of Customizations after Modification to the Hosted Website

As a website changes over time (e.g., pages are added, removed, andcontent is updated), it is expected that algorithmically-generatedsearch result sets will also change. In the case of result sets thathave been customized by the user, this may result in the followingscenarios:

1) If a page is removed from the website (and thus the search index),but that page has been customized or “pinned” to a position in one ormore result sets, it may be removed from that position in every resultset automatically; and

2) If the algorithmically generated set of results for a search query(or keyword) changes, those changes may be reflected immediately, butthe customized result for that search term remain unchanged. Thealgorithmically generated results shuffle “in between” the customizedresults.

FIGS. 6A-6E illustrates the process of applying modified results to anorganic result set that has changed over time, following from theexample of FIGS. 5A-5D, discussed above. More specifically, thecustomized results of 6A remain the same as in FIG. 5C. Additionally,FIG. 6B illustrates the original results, corresponding to FIG. 5A. FIG.6C shows that the customizations of 6A remain in effect after thewebpage (and therefore the algorithmic results) change over time. Asshown in FIG. 6D, result F has moved far down the organic result set andnew results (X, Y, and Z) have started appearing in the organic resultset. Pages X, Y, and Z are likely newly created pages that are alsorelevant to the original search keyword in this example. Finally, FIG.6E illustrates how the customized results remain in their designatedpositions, while the organic search results are shuffled between them.Note that this customization is exemplary only and other customizationsare also envisioned as the results change over time. For example, thehigher ranked X and Y may have been placed above or within the firstfour results rather than below them, as desired.

Finally, FIGS. 7A-7E illustrates a similar diagram of changing organicresults, but also illustrates the behavior when a customized result(Result D) is removed from the webpage, and thus the search index. Inthis example, the now deleted result is removed immediately from thecustomized set of FIG. 7C and the result set of FIG. 7D, and is notsuperimposed over the organic results in FIG. 7E.

FIGS. 8A-8I—Exemplary Walkthrough for Customizing Search Results

FIGS. 8A-8I illustrate exemplary user interfaces corresponding to oneembodiment of the method of FIG. 4. These interfaces are provided asexamples only and do not limit the scope of the descriptions herein.

Initially, a user may provide input to the search engine, e.g., usingthe interface shown in FIG. 3L. In FIG. 8A, the user has provided thequery “startups”, pressed the “search” button (or otherwise submittedthe query), and a plurality of search results are displayed on thewebpage. In this particular example, there have been no customizationsto the search engine, so the set of results are the unmodified ornatural results of the automatically created search engine; however,were there already search result customizations (e.g., such as after thecurrent walkthrough), these customizations may be shown in thisinterface at this point. As discussed above, the user may customize thesearch results (and therefore the search engine) by providing inputmodifying the search results, e.g., changing the order, removing asearch result, adding a search result, etc.

In FIG. 8B, the user has dragged the third search result of FIG. 8A fromthe third position to the first position in the search results. Asshown, the prior first and second results are now shown as second andthird results. Additionally, there is a visual indication on the firstresult that it has been customized. More specifically, a new icon orbutton is displayed (“UNPIN”) which allows the user to remove thecustomized position of the search result. Additionally, the entireresults is highlighted with a different color, visually indicating thatthe result is customized in the search result. Note that these visualindications may only be provided within the search engine managementinterface—a typically user searching for “startups” after thecustomization would simply see the customized set of results with novisual indications.

In FIG. 8C, the user has selected the “x” icon to delete or remove thecurrent third search result. Accordingly, this search result is removedin FIG. 8D. As noted in FIG. 8D, the user may “manage removed results”by selecting that link. In that interface, the user may add backpreviously removed search results, as desired.

In FIG. 8E, the user has selected the link to “add a custom result”.Accordingly, a new interface for adding the new result is displayed.This interface includes a field where the user can provide an exact URLof the page that the user wishes to add to the search results or theuser may provide a search query to the field to search for the desirednew search result. In the following, a search query is provided sincethe exact URL case is relatively straight forward.

In FIG. 8F, the user has provided the search query “lisp” and aplurality of search results for that query is provided. In this case,the search engine may search for titles of pages (e.g., since the userlikely knows the title of the page he wishes to add). However, full-textsearching is also envisioned. In this example, the user selects the“add” button for the page “lisp history”. Note that the user may addmultiple pages within this interface. In FIG. 8G, the text of theinterface is changed for the “lisp history” result, indicating that thenew search result has been added.

In FIG. 8H, the “lisp history” search result has been added to the topof the search results by default. Similar to the modified positiondiscussed above, the “lisp history” search result is visually indicatedas being a customization of the search results.

In FIG. 8I, the user has moved the “lisp history” search result to adesired position, in this case, from the first position to the thirdposition. Accordingly, after following the walkthrough of FIGS. 8A-8I,for the search query “startups”, an original search result has beenmoved to a new position, a new search result has been added and pinnedto a position, and an original search result has been removed.

As discussed above, these modifications may affect search results forother search queries, e.g., identically or substantially the same forvery similar search queries, such as “startup” and with less impact forless related search queries, such as “venture capital”.

FIG. 9—Customizing a Search Engine Using Tags

FIG. 9 illustrates a method for customizing a search engine, e.g., usingtags. The method shown in FIG. 9 may be used in conjunction with any ofthe computer systems or devices shown in the above Figures, among otherdevices. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown maybe performed concurrently, in a different order than shown, or may beomitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as desired. Asshown, this method may operate as follows.

In 902, a user may insert tags into a website (e.g., the webpages of thewebsite). In some embodiments, these tags may be inserted for thepurpose of creating and customizing a search engine (i.e., they may be“search engine tags” that are dedicated for this purpose). Note thatthese tags may have other uses, e.g., for display within the website, aswell. These tags may specify information that the search engine attemptsto extract from a webpage by default, such as the title of the webpage,the content of the webpage, etc.

More specifically, in one embodiment, if the user desires direct controlof the values extracted from a webpage, he may inform the crawler of thevalue he would like extracted for each attribute by using searchengine-specific meta tags. Said another way, the user can instruct theweb crawler to create any arbitrary document schema for each page itcrawls on a website by using these meta tags. As the crawler crawls thewebsite to create the search engine (as discussed above), each webpagemay be converted into a document or entry, which may represent thewebpage within the search engine. Each document may include a number ofdefault fields, e.g., having one or more of the following types:

-   -   string: short text content    -   text: long text content    -   enum: categorical text content (e.g., text that applies a label)    -   integer: numerical integer values    -   float: floating point numerical values    -   date: date/time stamps

In the case of the three text field types, the differences may beprimarily centered around how the text is analyzed within the searchengine itself. By default, the document or information stored for eachwebpage may have the following fields (type in parens):

-   -   title (string)    -   sections (array of text fields)    -   url (enum)    -   body (text)    -   type (enum)    -   image (enum)    -   published at (date)    -   popularity (float)    -   info (string)

The following lists exemplary default meta tags that may be inserted ina webpage:

<meta property=‘st:title’ content=‘’ /> <meta property=‘st:section’content=‘’ /> <meta property=‘st:image’ content=‘’ /> <metaproperty=‘st:type’ content=‘’ /> <meta property=‘st:info’ content=‘’ /><meta property=‘st:published_at’ content=‘’ />

Note that these search engine specific meta tags represent only a subsetof the markup-based language that the web crawler understands and caningest during search engine creation.

In one embodiment, if the user would like for additional fields to becreated for the document associated with each webpage, the user can usecustom meta tags to create fields arbitrarily, which can later be usedfor customizing the search engine. The following provides specificexamples for custom meta tags in a website:

The user could store the margin made on a product in a meta tag on thewebpage:

-   -   <meta name=“st:float:margin” content=“3.99”/>

This field value would then be available as a ranking metric for anywebpage that contained that meta tag. Accordingly, the user could ordersearch result by decreasing margin, using the embodiments discussedbelow.

Another example is storing the number of “likes”, or “upvotes” or thelike, a particular webpage has received (e.g., for one or more differentsocial media websites). This could be stored as an integer as follows:

-   -   <meta name=“st:integer:likes” content=“27”/>

Note that the value of such fields may change dynamically, e.g., as moreusers “like” or “upvote” the webpage, the meta-tag may be updated,allowing the search engine to remain up-to-date by re-crawling thewebsite. Again, this value could be available to custom result rankingfunctions, and the user could order results by decreasing “likes”, forexample. Additionally, the user could potentially combine the twometrics in any way they like. For example, the margin could be counted4×, the number of likes 2×, and the base text relevance counted 1×.

The following provides code for exemplary meta-tags within a webpage. Inthese examples, the “name” attribute may be a key of the form:

-   -   st:field-type:field-name

and the “content” attribute contains the value to be stored in thatfield.

<meta name=“st:string:title” content=“this is the page title” /> <metaname=“st:string:section” content=“section 1” /> <metaname=“st:enum:image” content=“http://www.google.com/images.gif” /> <metaname=“st:enum:type” content=“category” /> <meta name=“st:string:info”content=“user_id:1231” /> <meta name=“st:text:content” content=“this isthe body content of the page” /> <meta name=“st:integer:upvotes”content=“23” /> <meta name=“st:float:price” content=“3.99” /> <metaname=“st:date:publication_date” content=“01/12/12” />

Meta tags of this form may be stored inside the <head></head> tag of thewebpage. Alternatively, if the user does not wish to repeat content fromthe <body> of the HTML page inside of the <head>, they can use an HTMLdata-attribute to specify an existing HTML tag as a field in thedocument. A good example of this use would be for large bodies of text.The website owner typically would not want to repeat large portions oftext in both the <body> and in the <head> since it increases the size ofthe website and therefore increases download time. In that case, theuser may add a data attribute to the HTML tag containing the text theywish to be stored in the document. For example:

-   -   <p data-swiftype-text=“body”> this is the body text</p>

This would create a field named “body” of type “text”, and the valuestored would be “this is the body text”. As with the explicit meta tags,data attributes can be used to create fields of any supported type, andthe name and type may be specified in the data attribute itself. In oneembodiment, the attribute may follow this naming convention (where“swiftype” is simply the name of the website providing the custom searchengine):

-   -   data-swiftype-field_type=“field_name”.

The value of the field is the content enclosed by the tag marked withthe data attribute. Note that for the term “tag”, e.g., those specificto the search engine, includes the use of data attributes. Thus, theterm “tag” covers both the tags discussed above (e.g., within the headsection) as well as the addition of data attributes to existing tags,such as the example where the data attribute is added to the <p> tag.

In 904, the search engine may be automatically created using the tagsdiscussed above. More specifically, as already discussed, the crawlermay extract and store the information specified in the tags (e.g.,including both default tags that the search engine automaticallyattempts to populate and custom tags that the search engine would nothave attempted to extract by default) for use in the search engine.

In 906, user input may be received to customize the search engine, e.g.,based on the tags inserted into the website above. In one embodiment,the user input may be provided to customize the search engine based onthe custom tags described above. For example, the custom tags mayspecify information that the user may be able to create a rankingfunction around, such as the “likes” or “margin” discussed above, or anydesired characteristic. For example, the user may be able to createranking rules, e.g., for different search situations and/or searchqueries (or types of search queries), such as in the manner describedbelow in FIG. 10. For example, these ranking rules may modify the weightof various characteristics (e.g., specified by the tags) of the webpagein ranking search results.

Accordingly, in 908, the search engine may be customized according tothe specified user input. For example, the ranking rules discussed belowmay be applied to the search situations specified by the user.

FIG. 10—Customizing a Search Engine Using Rules

FIG. 10 illustrates a method for customizing a search engine using tags.The method shown in FIG. 10 may be used in conjunction with any of thecomputer systems or devices shown in the above Figures, among otherdevices. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown maybe performed concurrently, in a different order than shown, or may beomitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as desired. Asshown, this method may operate as follows.

More specifically, the following discussion may also involvecustomizations to the search engine using the tags discussed aboveand/or customizations that do not require such tags. The followingprovides exemplary details on the search engine as well as possiblecustomizations to the ranking algorithm in producing search results.

In one embodiment, the search engine may generate high-qualityalgorithmic search results for autocomplete and full-text search basedon the structure of an engine's data. By default, algorithmic searchresults may be ordered according to an underlying ranking function usedby the search engine, but users may also be able to create customranking functions, e.g., using the tags discussed above.

More specifically, in 1002, a user may specify creation of a rankingrule for a search engine of a website. For example, the user may providecredentials for logging in and may select a particular website or searchengine associated with the website. Accordingly, the user may provideuser input specifying the ranking rule. For example, the user mayspecify the importance of various characteristics or attributes of thewebpages in determining their order for search queries. Thesecharacteristics may be based on the tags discussed above (e.g., wherethe user has specified the values of the characteristics in desiredwebpages). Alternatively, or additionally, the characteristics may bebased on other factors, e.g., social impact discussed above regardingFIG. 2. In one specific embodiment, the user may specify weights for aplurality of characteristics, e.g., using a graphical user interface forspecifying the weights.

Additionally, the user may specify a context for the rule. For example,autocomplete search results may use a different ranking rule than whenthe search query is submitted. As another example, searches of differenttypes may have different ranking (e.g., using a first rule for productsearches, such as one focusing on higher margin, and a second rule forgeneral searches, such as focusing on social impact). Note that the rulemay be specified for individual search queries, for a plurality ofsearch queries (e.g., based on type), or any desired search context.

In 1004, the search engine may be automatically customized to apply thespecified rules, e.g., within the contexts specified by the user.

Exemplary Embodiments Related to the Method of FIG. 10

The following description provides exemplary embodiments correspondingto the method of FIG. 10. Examples:

1) Many sites use a specific ranking for autocomplete that is separatefrom full-text search. For example, this ranking may match prefixes onterms and take into account what searches have been performed in thepast (the History factor);

2) Sites with heavy social ecosystems may want to include externalPopularity factors on relevant pages. For example, a user can specifyrules or otherwise modify the search engine to amplify the relevance ofa page based on how many Facebook® “likes” and Twitter® “mentions”(among other social endorsements) it has. This way, socially trendingpages may be weighted toward the top of result sets.

The following provides an exemplary process for creating a customranking function:

1) The user logs into the search engine dashboard and selects a desiredsearch engine;

2) The user selects a “Settings” tab and selects “Result RankingFunctions”;

3) The user selects a “Create a New Ranking Function” button;

4) The user names the custom ranking function;

5) The user moves sliding controls for each relevance factor in order toadjust its magnitude relative to the other factors. The search enginemay provide built-in factors as well as user-specified relevance factors(e.g., such as those specified in custom tags);

6) The user saves the ranking function, which can now be referenced bythe name from Step 4;

7) When submitting searches in the future, the user can have the websiteelect to apply a custom ranking function by sending the name of thefunction along with the user-supplied search query. For example, thewebsite may submit a search query that specifies use of a rankingfunction that is based on the social impact of webpages of the website.Alternatively, the user may simply specify how rules are applied in thesearch engine dashboard, e.g., specifying a default rule, specifyingrules for different contexts, etc.

These factors may be used in weighting documents that match a specifiedquery. They allow operators to customize how much influence data, beyondtext, has on result rankings. The following specify exemplary relevancefactors:

1) Built-In or Default Factors:

a) Text Relevance: This specifies how closely the text of the documentresembles the text of the query;

b) User Engagement: For a particular query, the search engine measureshow much and for how long users interact with chosen results;

c) Popularity: Each document has its popularity calculated based onsite-specific factors as well as external social factors. On-sitemeasurements include interactions such as up-votes or comments. Externalfactors may include Facebook® “Likes”, Google+® “Plus Ones”, Reddit®posts, and Twitter® “mentions”, among other possible social sitepossibilities;

d) User History: This predicts what a user is looking for based on hisor others' past activity.

2) Custom Factors:

a) Users can push any custom ranking factors to the search engine viameta-tags or the API;

b) These factors may be included in the Custom Result Ranking Functionsdashboard automatically.

Examples:

i) Publishing advertising CPM with documents. This allows the user toboost higher CPM value pages to the top of search result listings.

ii) Commerce applications can publish data such as margins on productsto the search engine. They can then use them as a tie-breaker forresults with near identical relevance scores so that the more valuableproduct shows up first.

FIGS. 11 and 12 provide exemplary interfaces corresponding to theabove-descriptions.

More specifically, FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary user interface forcreating a ranking function or rule. As shown, the user may provide aname for the ranking function and may specify the relative weight ofvarious ranking factors for the function. The factors may be any ofthose described above, among others. In this exemplary interface, thefactors are engagement, popularity, history, and ad CPM. The user hasused the sliding bars for each factor to specify relatively high weightfor engagement and popularity and relatively low weight for history andad CPM.

Additionally, FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary user interface where theuser has created custom rules. As shown, the interface lists the factorsused by the rules, when they were created, and if they are still active.

Additional Embodiments

The following description provides additional embodiments that may applyto the embodiments and descriptions provided herein. The provideddetails are exemplary only and other implementations are envisioned.

Page content exclusions and inclusion: Similar to path inclusions andexclusions above, users may have segments of individual pages that theywish to affirmatively include or exclude from the search index. In oneembodiment, the search engine crawler may use HTML data attributes toachieve this functionality. For example, users may add thedata-swiftype-index attribute to any HTML element. Setting thisattribute to “true” may cause all child content to be indexed. Settingthis attribute to “false” may prevent the crawler from indexing childcontent of that element. These attributes can also be nested in theHTML. If there are multiple rules present on the page, all text mayinherit its behavior from the nearest parent element with an attribute.Thus, a user can granularly include and exclude elements within eachother. If there is text outside of any inclusion/exclusion attributes onthe page, it may be treated the opposite of the first-appearingattribute on the page. For example, if the first attribute isdata-swiftype-index=false, any text without an attribute may be indexedin the search engine as shown in FIG. 13.

Search Engine Performance Index: After a search engine is installed on a3rd-party website, usage statistics for the engine may be collected.These statistics may include, but are not limited to, the keywordswebsite users search for, the results they click on after searching forsaid keywords, the keywords that return zero or few results, and thekeywords that result in a very low clickthrough rate to a result page.These statistics may be displayed in the search engine dashboard for theoperator to browse and help guide him in choosing the keywords thatshould be customize. In one particular embodiment, the overallperformance of the search engine may be reduced to a floating pointnumber in the range [0,1], which may be updated continually.

Engine Customization Analytics: All of the above customizations have theinherent ability to enhance or harm the performance of a search engine.The search engine (or server associated with the search engine) maytrack any customizations made to the search engine by users as “Events”and may determine trends in the search engine's performance (e.g., usingthe Search Performance Index) relative to those Events. For example, ifuser Jill modifies a Custom Result Ranking Function to weight Ad CPMmuch higher, weeks later when substantive data has been collected, analert may appear on the search engine dashboard. It may notify all usersthat Jill's change on Oct. 3, 2012 caused a 12% drop in User Engagement.There may also be an option to revert such a change in the alert.Conversely, if there is a net-positive effect from a change, anotheralert may be triggered to notify the users of the success. Similaralerts may be provided for any of various factors (e.g., in addition touser engagement, such as popularity, ad revenue, etc.) or overallperformance for the search engine.

Although the embodiments above have been described in considerabledetail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent tothose skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated.It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace allsuch variations and modifications.

We claim:
 1. A method for modifying a search engine, comprising: acomputer server creating a search engine for a website, wherein saidcreating the search engine comprises creating search information for aplurality of webpages of the web site, wherein the search informationspecifies a first set of information for each webpage; the computerserver providing a search-customization user interface for modifying aranking function of the search engine for the website, wherein thesearch-customization user interface specifies one or more first rankingfactors; after the user inserts one or more first custom tags intosource code of at least one webpage of the web site, the computer serverupdating the search information to include information related to theone or more custom tags, wherein the one or more custom tags arededicated for customizing the search engine of the website; the computerserver providing the search-customization user interface for modifyingthe ranking function of the search engine for the website, wherein, inaddition to the one or more first ranking factors, thesearch-customization user interface specifies one or more additionalranking factors corresponding to the one or more first custom tags,wherein each additional ranking factor is added to thesearch-customization user interface for a respective first custom taginserted into the source code; the computer server receiving first userinput from the user, wherein the first user input specifies modifying arelative weight of a first additional ranking factor of the one or moreadditional ranking factors; the computer server automatically modifyingthe ranking function of the search engine to use the relative weight ofthe first additional ranking factor based on the first user input; afterautomatically modifying the ranking function of the search engine to usethe relative weight of the first additional ranking factor, the computerserver receiving a search query for the website; and the computer serverproviding a plurality of search results using the ranking function. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the search-customization user interfacecomprises a slider for each ranking factor, wherein the first user inputcomprises user input to a first slider for the first additional rankingfactor.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving furtheruser input from the user for a second ranking function, wherein theranking functions are usable for a plurality of different searchcontexts.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the different searchcontexts comprise an autocomplete search context or a full text searchcontext.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first one or more customtags comprise a tag associated with social endorsements on one or moresocial networks.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first one or morecustom tags comprise a tag associated with economic attributes of the atleast one webpage.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the searchinformation for the plurality of webpages comprises creating a documentcomprising the search information for each webpage.
 8. A non-transitory,computer accessible memory medium storing program instructions formodifying a search engine, wherein the program instructions areexecutable by one or more processors to: create a search engine for awebsite, wherein said creating the search engine comprises creatingsearch information for a plurality of webpages of the website, whereinthe search information specifies a first set of information for eachwebpage; provide a search-customization user interface for modifying aranking function of the search engine for the website, wherein thesearch-customization user interface specifies one or more first rankingfactors; after the user inserts one or more first custom tags intosource code of at least one webpage of the website, update the searchinformation to include information related to the one or more customtags, wherein the one or more custom tags are dedicated for customizingthe search engine of the web site; provide the search-customization userinterface for modifying the ranking function of the search engine forthe web site, wherein, in addition to the one or more first rankingfactors, the search-customization user interface specifies one or moreadditional ranking factors corresponding to the one or more first customtags, wherein each additional ranking factor is added to thesearch-customization user interface for a respective first custom taginserted into the source code; receive first user input from the user,wherein the first user input specifies modifying a relative weight of afirst additional ranking factor of the one or more additional rankingfactors; automatically modify the ranking function of the search engineto use the relative weight of the first additional ranking factor basedon the first user input; after automatically modifying the rankingfunction of the search engine to use the relative weight of the firstadditional ranking factor, receive a search query for the website; andprovide a plurality of search results using the ranking function.
 9. Thenon-transitory, computer accessible memory medium of claim 8, whereinthe search-customization user interface comprises a slider for eachranking factor, wherein the first user input comprises user input to afirst slider for the first additional ranking factor.
 10. Thenon-transitory, computer accessible memory medium of claim 8, whereinthe program instructions are further executable to: receive further userinput from the user for a second ranking function, wherein the rankingfunctions are usable for a plurality of different search contexts. 11.The non-transitory, computer accessible memory medium of claim 10,wherein the different search contexts comprise an autocomplete searchcontext or a full text search context.
 12. The non-transitory, computeraccessible memory medium of claim 8, wherein the first one or morecustom tags comprise a tag associated with social endorsements on one ormore social networks.
 13. The non-transitory, computer accessible memorymedium of claim 8, wherein the first one or more custom tags comprise atag associated with economic attributes of the at least one webpage. 14.The non-transitory, computer accessible memory medium of claim 8,wherein creating the search information for the plurality of webpagescomprises creating a document comprising the search information for eachwebpage.
 15. A search engine system, comprising: one or more processors;and one or more memory mediums couples to the one or more processors,wherein the one or more memory mediums store program instructions formodifying a search engine, wherein the program instructions areexecutable by the one or more processors to: create a search engine fora website, wherein said creating the search engine comprises creatingsearch information for a plurality of webpages of the website, whereinthe search information specifies a first set of information for eachwebpage; provide a search-customization user interface for modifying aranking function of the search engine for the website, wherein thesearch-customization user interface specifies one or more first rankingfactors; after the user inserts one or more first custom tags intosource code of at least one webpage of the website, update the searchinformation to include information related to the one or more customtags, wherein the one or more custom tags are dedicated for customizingthe search engine of the website; provide the search-customization userinterface for modifying the ranking function of the search engine forthe web site, wherein, in addition to the one or more first rankingfactors, the search-customization user interface specifies one or moreadditional ranking factors corresponding to the one or more first customtags, wherein each additional ranking factor is added to thesearch-customization user interface for a respective first custom taginserted into the source code; receive first user input from the user,wherein the first user input specifies modifying a relative weight of afirst additional ranking factor of the one or more additional rankingfactors; automatically modify the ranking function of the search engineto use the relative weight of the first additional ranking factor basedon the first user input; after automatically modifying the rankingfunction of the search engine to use the relative weight of the firstadditional ranking factor, receive a search query for the website; andprovide a plurality of search results using the ranking function. 16.The search engine system of claim 15, wherein the search-customizationuser interface comprises a slider for each ranking factor, wherein thefirst user input comprises user input to a first slider for the firstadditional ranking factor.
 17. The search engine system of claim 15,wherein the program instructions are further executable to: receivefurther user input from the user for a second ranking function, whereinthe ranking functions are usable for a plurality of different searchcontexts.
 18. The search engine system of claim 17, wherein thedifferent search contexts comprise an autocomplete search context or afull text search context.
 19. The search engine system of claim 15,wherein the first one or more custom tags comprise a tag associated withsocial endorsements on one or more social networks.
 20. The searchengine system of claim 15, wherein the first one or more custom tagscomprise a tag associated with economic attributes of the at least onewebpage.